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police to ignore California impound law

The Los Angeles Police Department will soon start ignoring California state law, which requires police to impound the vehicles of unlicensed drivers for 30 days.
The majority of unlicensed motorists in Los Angeles are immigrants who are in the country illegally and have low-income jobs. The LAPD says the state's impound law is unfair because it limits their ability to get to their jobs and imposes a steep fine to get their car back.
As long as drivers can produce some form of I.D., proof of insurance and vehicle registration, they'll be allowed to keep their car. Police Chief Charlie Beck insists that it's simply leveling the playing field.
"It's about fairness. It's about equal application of the law," Beck told a Los Angeles TV station earlier this month.
Opponents of Beck's decision are furious and refer to studies showing unlicensed drivers are among the most dangerous on the road. Indeed, a 2011 AAA study titled "Unlicensed to Kill" finds they are five times more likely to be involved in fatal crashes and more likely to flee the scene of a crime.
The decision has angered Don Rosenberg, a resident of Los Angeles County, who lost his 25-year old son, Drew, in a 2010 accident caused by an unlicensed driver in San Francisco, a city with lax impound policies. The driver, who tried fleeing the scene, had previously been pulled over but was allowed to retrieve his car after a short time, months before the accident.
"It doesn't matter to me who killed my son-- what their nationality was. It was the fact that if the law were followed, he'd be alive today," Rosenberg told Fox News.
Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley wrote Chief Beck, saying his policy would be "invalid" in light of state law, which states a vehicle "shall be impounded." But supporters of Beck's decision say, regardless of the law, he's doing the right thing for illegal immigrants who cannot yet obtain driver's licenses here.
"A low-income person doesn't have the ability to pay the fees after 30 days to get their car back," said Cardinal Roger Mahony, former Archbishop of Los Angeles and an immigration activist. "Basically, we're just creating more punitive problems for them."
The L.A. Police Commission voted in favor of the new policy 4-1 last month. The LAPD says officers will begin implementing it in a matter of weeks. The city attorney has also sided with Beck's decision.
Immigrant advocates say the controversy highlights the need to provide provisional driver's licenses for illegal immigrants.
Don Rosenberg says he'd favor that, as long as the police enforce state law by impounding unlicensed drivers' cars when pulled over. But he believes that the city is pandering to the Latino community and doesn't hold out hope that the policy will change anytime soon.
"It's more important that people who are in the country illegally get to drive than it is that people who are here get to live," he said.

To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right.

Wait.. they are knowingly allowing a unlicensed driver ot get back into a car and drive it off. Ummm... I'd think that would make the police partly responsible if that unlicensed driver gets into an accident and hurts someone.

That's almost like just handing guns back to those convicted of violent crimes using a firearm after they get out of prison. Here ya go, here's your gun back.

There are an estimated 3 million illegals in California (much more probably) that can now drive a car illegally with out a license.

This is absolutely insane.

They say that the illegals...(which shouldn't be on the road in to begin with), cant afford the 1200 bucks to get their cars out of impound at the end of the 30 days.

So the phuk what!

Why don't we all give up our US citizenship, move out of here for a bit, then move back in illegally. We can all get free health care, education, housing, dont need a drivers license or insurance....ya know?

To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right.

So,

here is a figure of authority (police chief) who in his opinion thinks the law is unfair and is not going to enforce it. So much for the oath of office to uphold all State, Federal, and Local laws. He should be fired immediately.

You can thank your progressive, caring, feeling, politicians and the sheeple who decide they know how to run their lives better than they do for this kind of thing. You might as well just give it back to Mexico now, before the fault line claims it for Hawaii. Cut our losses before one state drags down an entire country. It's already a punchline for everything wrong with this country.

last year i was driving down the street with a group of cars.
(it used to be if you went the same speed as other cars the police didn't fk with you)
all of the sudden a cop ran out into the middle of the street aiming a speed gun at me.
they were pulling over WHOLE GROUPS of cars in a speed trap.
the cops had tow trucks standing by.
i just got a ticket because iwas in a company truck, but they were tsealing people's cars.

the only reason why the city is second guessing their actions is because rights-groups made a racial incident out of it

i should have fought the ticket and made everyone have a chat about this in court

what?
it's none of the police chief's or the council's busniess if somone decides to drive without a license.
people are responsible for their own actions.

What the hell is wrong with you, you have said some asinine things before but that is just off the wall.

We have laws in this country and having a drivers license is one that we need, in order to have order on our roadways people need to have training and be able to understand how to act on the road. Most of the people without a valid license are illegal's that do not speak or read the English which makes them doubly dangerous on the road. Did you not read that unlicensed driver are five times more likely to be in a fatal accident.